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HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Research from CDK Global has found that car shoppers today expect more from dealer websites when it comes to online shopping technology.

In a survey conducted this past March, CDK found that nearly 70% of respondents expected to find the ability to configure a payment on a dealership website. Eighty-three percent indicated that online technology would help them narrow down their vehicle choice to determine what is affordable and more than half said they would start the credit process online.

"Consumers have clearly indicated that they expect dealers to offer the ability to start the car-buying process online," said Bob Karp, president of automotive retail North America at CDK Global. "Interestingly, our research found that among those same consumers, nearly 60% felt more comfortable starting this process on a dealer’s website compared to third-party sites. Dealers have a big opportunity to improve trust with this new technology, and to reduce the purchase time."

CDK recently introduced CDK Connected Store, an online car-buying solution that provides a personalized and seamless experience for customers. It also provides flexibility in how much information they have to enter before vising the dealership, the company noted in its announcement. Customers can choose to simply configure a potential payment or go so far as to start the credit process.

The new solution fully integrates with other CDK solutions, including Sales Velocity and dealer websites. CDK estimates that by incorporating a four-step process of selecting a down payment, determining trade-in value, calculating taxes and fees, and obtaining credit information through its Connected Store solution, customers and dealers will be able to save up to 90 minutes in the car-buying process.

"What makes our solution unique is that it bridges the online experience seamlessly into the store,” continued Karp. “The integration with the DMS and our desking solution also helps ensure that the consumer and the dealer have payment information that matches the online quote."

CDK’s Connect Store Solution is currently available to dealers with both a CDK-provided website and a CDK DMS in the United States. For more, click here.